The family of Sayfollah Musallet, a 20-year-old US citizen from Florida killed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, is demanding Washington conduct its own investigation and hold the perpetrators accountable.
In a family statement, they described how Israeli settlers surrounded Musallet for three hours during Friday’s assault and attacked medics attempting to reach him. The young man, known as Saif, was characterized as “kind, hard-working, and deeply-respected” while working to build his future.
“This is an unimaginable nightmare and injustice that no family should ever have to face,” the statement read. “We demand the US State Department lead an immediate investigation and hold the Israeli settlers who killed Saif accountable for their crimes. We demand justice.”
Washington has historically resisted calls to investigate killings of US citizens by Israeli forces, with officials maintaining that Israel can investigate its own conduct. However, Israeli investigations rarely result in criminal charges against settlers or soldiers, despite documented violations against Palestinians.
The State Department responded Friday that it “has no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens overseas.” A spokesperson confirmed awareness of reports regarding the US citizen’s death in the West Bank and readiness to provide consular services, but declined further details citing family privacy.
Israeli forces have killed at least nine US citizens since 2022, including veteran Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, with no incidents resulting in criminal charges.
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee stated the US “must stop treating Palestinian American lives as expendable.” They noted that “Israeli settlers lynched 20-year-old Palestinian American Sayfollah Musallet, while US officials stayed silent. Sayfollah was born and raised in Florida. He was visiting family for the summer in the West Bank when settlers beat him to death while he protested illegal land seizures.”
American Muslims for Palestine questioned whether Trump would uphold his “America First” promise regarding a Palestinian-American victim, asking: “Will he uphold his ‘America First’ promise when it’s a Palestinian-American whose life was taken? Or will he once again bow his head to Israel, no matter the cost in blood?”
The group emphasized that US citizenship should not determine justice, noting another Palestinian was killed in the same settler attack Saturday. “Whether a Palestinian holds American citizenship or not, every single murder committed by this regime must be explicitly prohibited, punished, and condemned,” they stated.
The US provides billions in military aid to Israel and protects its ally diplomatically at international forums, often using veto power to block UN Security Council proposals critical of Israeli actions.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations urged supporters Saturday to contact lawmakers demanding condemnation of Musallet’s killing. “This was not an isolated incident. It was part of a long, unpunished pattern of violence against US citizens by Israeli soldiers and settlers,” they stated.
Sarah Leah Whitson of rights group DAWN noted the US has tools for accountability in the Musallet case, pointing to Washington’s pursuit of criminal charges against Hamas officials for killing US citizens during the October 7, 2023 attack in Israel.
“What is really missing is the political will from the United States government to protect American citizens of Palestinian origin or Americans protesting Israeli actions in the West Bank,” Whitson told Al Jazeera. “What it really does is it sets a precedent of encouragement and sets a precedent for open season on Americans just as there is open season on Palestinians.”
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